Small Rib for skiing - Question on buying

webselect · 15 August 2008, 12:22

Hello,

We are looking to buy a cheap Rib just for occasional messing about in decent weather on an estuary and near the shore in open water. We want to do nothing more than pull a donut or a single skiier.

We have spotted a clean looking 3.6m Rib for £2500 which has a 25/30 HP Engine at http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F188512 which fits our budget. The owner claims it will seat 4 to 5 and can pull a skiier using a stainless steel eye on the rear of the transom.

Being used to rigid boats this sounds very low power for pulling up a skiier but I am aware that Ribs don't need the HP that rigids do.

Can anyone give me an opinion as to wether 25/30HP sounds enough or any general opinions on the advert?

Many thanks for any help.

Mark

BobLS · 15 August 2008, 14:03

It might just about pull out a very light skier with 2 people on board....that's about it I'm afraid.

BritBoater · 15 August 2008, 14:06

Basic rule of thumb if you need about 18mph for beginner skiers, and about 26mph for mono skiers. There's no way that horsepower will pull up a mono skier but I reckon you'd have enough guts for 1 skier on 2 skis... You won't have much though.

If you want to just do recreational skiing then a 50hp is the minimum really, ideally more.

webselect · 15 August 2008, 14:14

Thank you both for the replies. We will only want to pull a single skiier on 2 skis with 2 people in the boat. As for light skiiers, well I'm 15 stone so it may struggle. Shame as it looks a lovely clean boat.

webselect · 15 August 2008, 14:26

Actually, while I'm asking daft questions!!!!

A RIB this small, would it be possible to launch and recover by hand (by 2 semi fit blokes) on a slipway rather than bring a car with tow bar each time?That would be nice!

BritBoater · 15 August 2008, 15:33

It would be easy enough to use a solid object to anchor the trailer to via rope and launch this way -many do this with much larger boats.

Poly · 15 August 2008, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by webselect

Actually, while I'm asking daft questions!!!!

A RIB this small, would it be possible to launch and recover by hand (by 2 semi fit blokes) on a slipway rather than bring a car with tow bar each time?That would be nice!

its about the same size as my boat so I think you would struggle to do this if the slip is steep or slippery - but in theory you could probably manage it - assume the trailer is unbraked though - so you need to work out how you stop 1/2 a ton of trailer/boat/engine sliding down the slip if you need a rest.

OH and my top speed with 20HP 2 stroke on a roughly similar sized boat without optimising the prop is 22 knots with 1 up, so I think you should get a bit more than that.

MonoMicky · 15 August 2008, 15:52

From Experience ... 20/25hp definitely not enough. I have skied on a 14ft Nouvarana RIB with a 40HP and once owned a 4 Metre Avon Searider with a 50HP and would say that your minimum requirements are a 4 Metre boat with a minimum of a 40HP Engine

ribpilot · 15 August 2008, 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by webselect

Hello,

We are looking to buy a cheap Rib just for occasional messing about in decent weather on an estuary and near the shore in open water. We want to do nothing more than pull a donut or a single skiier.

We have spotted a clean looking 3.6m Rib for £2500 which has a 25/30 HP Engine at http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F188512 which fits our budget. The owner claims it will seat 4 to 5 and can pull a skiier using a stainless steel eye on the rear of the transom.

Being used to rigid boats this sounds very low power for pulling up a skiier but I am aware that Ribs don't need the HP that rigids do.

Can anyone give me an opinion as to wether 25/30HP sounds enough or any general opinions on the advert?

Many thanks for any help.

Mark

I have a small rib which my son uses but we also use this for waterskiing.It is a flatacraft force three and has only a 15hp mariner,suprising to most people and we have wiped the smiles off peoples faces when we pull a skier out.So in my opinion 30hp would be fine.

Downhilldai · 15 August 2008, 22:06

I'd suggest you go for a 4m Searider with a 50hp - it will do the job, no problem. This one only made £3k and it knocks spots off that twatsoo, despite being a bit older:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=010

MonoMicky · 15 August 2008, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

I'd suggest you go for a 4m Searider with a 50hp - it will do the job, no problem. This one only made £3k and it knocks spots off that twatsoo, despite being a bit older:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=010

Looks like a bargain to me ... good package and trust me ... if you buy a smaller one it wont be long before your upgrading. I started with one of these, had 3 others and am now looking for a 7.5m 250HP

The Avon is an excellent all round package for what you want. I even managed a deepwater start on mono with mine (you do need to be good at holding your breath though

)

Downhilldai · 16 August 2008, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonoMicky

..... I even managed a deepwater start on mono with mine (you do need to be good at holding your breath though

)

Yep - been there

Downhilldai · 19 August 2008, 01:53

Another one here with a Yam 50. Would make a good boat, once the folding seats were chucked out and the A-frame 'reprofiled':

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Avon-Searider-...d=p3286.c0.m14

webselect · 19 August 2008, 09:40

Thank you everyone for the varied and interesting replies.

Having looked at the RIB and looked into the issue of towing a skiier I found it to be in near perfect condition, not a mark on it. It pulls a single skiier no problem at all (much to my surprise) so I have bought it.

Will be chugging around Teignmouth/Torquay over the coming weeks complete with squealing kids on the donut!

Thanks for all your help

Downhilldai · 19 August 2008, 09:59

Glad you found the experience and advice from this forum useful